Fall planting

Temperatures are starting to come down a bit, on average around 10 degrees per day. So, daughter and I went out and did our fall planting yesterday.

I removed the plastic sheeting from the rows which have been covered the longest with black plastic and tilled those rows before we planted. Hopefully most of the grass and weeds are dead now. Find out soon enough. (I did save the plastic for next year.)

We planted pumpkin (three kinds), carrots, lettuce (two kinds) and spinach (also two kinds). I also gave in and planted pole green beans by the fence, since the additional cucumbers I planted there died off. I think cucumber beetles got them. 

Something I forgot was to plant dill. Have to do that today. 

Tomatoes have started a nice rotation of ripening and we picked about 10 lbs a couple days ago. To that, I ordered a pressure canner finally. A decent one which is anodized and 20 quart size. It can also be used as a pressure cooker and comes with the can rack and three weights.

Getting the most cucumbers ever now. Still doesn't amount to a whole lot. Oh, well. Lots of flowers, so maybe we'll wind up with a decent crop in the long term. As of now, not enough to start pickling more than one jar at a time. 

No green grapes this year, thanks to the late frost. Same with apples. Plums seem to have been carried off by birds. I mean all of them. Not even one plum pit left behind. I will have to cover the tree with netting next year.

I knew and planned for this to be mostly a sparse year for the garden. More important to get weeds and grass under control. For which it looks like I'll have to go buy even more herbicide. Last few weeks rain and weather changes have sparked an explosion of weeds. I think if I get them controlled now it will be an immense advantage next year. In this case, I will use herbicide one day and then acid the next day to desiccate any seeds. 

Even if the variety of crops is low this year, it's still the best year yet for tomatoes. I am expecting several hundred lbs of tomatoes this year. I think daughter has already eaten like 3 lbs of them.  

Solarizing

So, I came to the realization that solarizing (at least in my garden) is not going to build up enough heat to kill seeds. That would have to reach 160 degrees down to about a foot depth. Instead, it has a different method of working. 

What it actually does is build enough heat and moisture for seeds to germinate. Then deprives them of energy, so the plants that sprout die off as their roots become exhausted. Plus microbes feed on material in the deeper soil. 

What I have seen is a huge spike in snail and sow bug population as they feed on the debris. 

Understanding the process lets me know why it takes as long as it does. It also tells me it may be safe to remove most of the plastic in the next few weeks because that process will be mostly or entirely complete. The exception is the two most recently covered sections. Those will remain covered the rest of the season. 

However, in general I have found extensive value in this and some areas of the ground will be routinely covered every year from now on. It helped the tomatoes so much I'll keep this practice. Helps with weeds, grass, insects and moisture stability. Lower branches don't get yellowed even if they hang on the ground because irrigation is under the plastic. I was worried about soil oxygen but the plants absorb enough through the leaves. 

I am hoping it will also help the pumpkins. I may keep some additional areas covered where longer crops grow which were started in pots. Only uncovering where I want to direct plant carrots and such.

Amazed

The tomato plants are amazing me this year. Last couple of weeks I have had to tie the branches up twice a week to keep them from dragging the ground. Several of the plants (first ones planted out) are 4-5 ft across.

Aside from that, there are more tomatoes than any previous year and they are seriously gaining some size! None are turning red just yet. Maybe in another week or two but I'm not in a rush. I'm more anxious to see how large they may get! In previous years I could sometimes go through the garden and count how many tomatoes were growing. At least early in the season. This year there's no chance of that. For the ones of any size I estimate at least 200-300 tomatoes hanging this minutes, with more flowers and very tiny tomatoes forming. 

The plants are not growing as tall as they have before. That may be the varieties I'm growing or that they are forming more fruit. 

Few cucumber vines are looking good. Waiting to see if others planted recently will come up. I need to put up a trellis for them to climb. The wooden fence doesn't have anything that cucumbers will hold onto, since they're not true climbers like green beans or grapes. Even pumpkins and watermelons climb better by nature. I have some metal fencing that would work for the purpose quite well. 

Speaking of which, one watermelon vine is looking good. Couple more are still small and I planted more seeds earlier this week. I think they should have time to produce if they germinate soon. 

I also planted pumpkin seeds, both giant and pie this week. Those should definitely have time to produce as long as there's no early frost this year.

That one is questionable. The weather is uncommonly cool right now. An average of 9 degrees cooler than normal for this time of year. Reports say there is a continued El Nino in the Pacific, which is increasing precipitation, resulting in cooler temperatures and a lot more rain than normal here. I'm surprised I have not yet heard the right wing idiots talking about how this indicates global warming isn't real. They never grasp the fact that the whole reason for the weather pattern is because of ocean warming. Their minds aren't big enough to understand it. The end result could be an early (and very cold) winter. 

Finally

Since I had today off, I woke up early and finally got to the dispensary while they had cannabis cuttings in stock. I was the first in line when they set the tray of cuttings out this morning. Got one pure Indica and one Indica dominant. 

I also tried starting a couple more seeds. The instructions they gave me with the cuttings stressed something which I had maybe not paid enough attention to. Cannabis seedlings need a lot of humidity. So, I microwaved the potting soil, then microwaved the planting containers. All to kill off any dormant white fly eggs. Then planted the seeds. Placed a ring of translucent plastic around the seeds and taped cheesecloth to the top. Then sprayed the cheesecloth with insecticide. (I did cheesecloth thing with the cuttings, also.) 

I've been sick all this week due to the worst allergies in decades. Mostly cottonwood. Feeling a bit better today because we've had some rain which washed some of the pollen away. Still pretty tired all day, though. Body had to recover. 

Tomorrow I plan on getting the grass trimmed and lay down more black plastic. I had removed one small section a few days ago to see if it had been in place long enough. Within two days I saw new grass sprouting. So, have to cover that spot and other areas. 

Tomatoes are still all green but some are getting really big now. Very happy with that!

Next stage

Okay, so I have had the black plastic in place on some rows for a number of weeks now. This evening, I took one small section off and moved it to another area where weeds have gone insane. Low weeds. Had a battle with them last year but can't recall what their name. 

The section I removed plastic from is all brown and appears dead. However, that could change with light and more air. I'm going to give it at least a week before planting anything there. At first sign of anything green, the plastic goes back down.

The tomato plants have seriously bushed out in just about the last week. I now have dozens of tomatoes forming rapidly and hundreds of flowers where many more fruit will be. I am honestly expecting at least 300-400 lbs of tomatoes this year. This is truly the best the tomatoes have ever looked. 

On the other hand, not much else is growing. I left lettuce out of the picture this year to get the weeds controlled. Looking at the areas which I did not cover, I am really happy with that decision. The carrots I planted in the uncovered areas never came up. I think they would have, if not for the weeds. 

I am still keeping the clear plastic down in the tomato patch. I think that has a lot to do with how well tomatoes are doing. It retains moisture, removes hiding paces for damaging insects and at least limits how much any weeds under the plastic can steal nutrients. If the weeds die off, they will actually compost under the plastic and release nutrients back into the soil. 

I planted the watermelon and pumpkin plants out which I started inside. However, moved them out too quickly because daughter and I were leaving for vacation. Now only one watermelon vine survived.

All my cucumber vines started inside died off. I planted more seeds and have some vines coming up now. I'll probably have cucumbers but not for a while. Just going to have to do some work to keep the weeds under control manually around them. 

I'm actually not pushing for a lot from the garden this year besides tomatoes. I may focus more on the fall garden if things are finally controlled by then. I have been spraying more weed killer this year than ever. Just trying to catch the weeds early, so they have no chance to spread more seeds. I will continue with using that through the whole season and hope to need a lot less next year.

Displacement

Here is something which may seem odd. As I plant things in the garden, I am removing soil, grass and weeds and piling it up in the compost pile. Though I did just realize I need to place some black plastic over it, so the grass and weeds don't sprout. Over time, I will rotate contents into the compost tumbler, which reaches higher temperatures. The combination of composting and heat should deactivate the seeds. 

Got out and set up another sprinkler during lunch for the Cosmos and the Wisteria. Also set up a water line for the dog, so it will automatically fill his bowl, like I do each summer. I think it will be more successful this year because the younger dog is gone, who would chew up the water line, leaving it to drain on the ground and leave the dogs thirsty. This dog is smarter than that. I hope. 

Still no luck on the cannabis plants. they seriously attract white flies. I finally gave in and sprayed the hell out of them with poison. See if that helps.

Change of layout

I have decided to make a change of layout in the garden. Today I set the new seedless grape vine in the ground. In the main garden, instead of along the fence. What I want to do is establish an actual (small) orchard. Laying things out in a straight line in the main garden would make it easier to propagate new vines. I'll trim most of the vine runners up higher but leave one or two at the bottom, let them gain some length, bury them in soil until they form roots, then cut the connection to the "mother". No question it will take several years to establish a whole line of vines that way but that's okay.

Hmm. Okay, I just figured out I did something wrong. I set the vine in the ground at the end of the row. Should have done that in the middle. Then I could form two new vines at once instead of one. I'll have to move it. That way I can start with one vine and by the end of the year I'll have at least three. Next year that would increase to five, the following year seven. etc. Then I can keep them well trimmed and the grapes will grow to a good size. 

That doesn't mean I will ignore the grapes along the fences. I'll still extend them. I have kind of an emotional attachment to them now. 

Have to get the watermelon and pumpkin plants in the ground this week. 

White flies

Still having a problem with white flies on indoor plants. They're a huge problem here every year, both inside and out. I'm keeping the office windows closed and have taken to spraying flying insect poison several times a day in there. Tried insecticidal soap but with limited effect.

Problem is that they kill off seedlings until they are large enough to deal with the damage. Of course, they lay eggs and hatch in the soil, so they do damage at least from soil level up. Even those that survive take much longer to mature.

I've had lots of flowers and several cannabis seedlings die off from this. Cannabis seeds are not cheap, at up to $5 per seed. Just trying to get a few plants to maturity, so I can produce more seeds. 

Outdoor tomato plants keep looking better. Most of the varieties I'm growing right now don't tend to grow that tall, maybe 4 ft maximum but they bush out a lot, which they are doing. They have not yet gained enough size that I need to trim them back. I do have a few small tomatoes forming. They'll take a while because all these varieties are large tomatoes. No cherry or grape tomatoes this year. I only grew those for daughter and she has more liking for large tomatoes now and not small ones. That's good because it concurs with my own preference. That is, good if she doesn't eat all of them! Lol! 

Watermelon vines are coming up. I'll get them in the ground as soon as they form some true leaves. I have them outside already, in partial shade so they will adjust more quickly to sunlight. 

Not seeing any carrots in the garden which I planted. Though they can remain hidden for a while. Still a chance for the, since weather has been warm but lots of cloudy days. If seeds had a chance to germinate, they will come up.

Strange thing. The potatoes in the solarium had stopped growing while the cilantro was growing. Now that the cilantro went dormant, the potatoes started growing again! Any way, I removed the cilantro and planted more red potatoes in containers a few minutes ago.

I had been holding off on tying the tomato plants too much but checked closer this evening and wound up having to tie some of them quite a bit.

I do have to do some more revisions of the irrigation and put down more black plastic. The weeds are going wild under the translucent plastic. So, translucent plastic is a definite failure.It has kept the weeds contained so they don't spread but not much else. 

Computer updates

Today so far I am kind of stuck doing computer updates. For a long time the video card channel in my motherboard wasn't working. Computer was function on the native Windows driver, so it was okay for most things. Could not send video to the TV or play computer games. Would overheat the processor with some videos, then I learned even that was only on one browser, so I switched browsers. 

Ordered and installed a new motherboard. Not only did the motherboard not work but it fried my 8 core processor.

So I ordered another motherboard and 6 core processor from a different vendor. Installed that last night but had to install drivers and updates this morning, along with tweaking the system so it works how I want. 

Once I get that done, going to get outside and get some things done. Kind of tired because I woke up sick at 4:30 AM. Mostly passed but slept late and not so energetic today thus far.

Tomato plants are taking off like rockets now! Hundreds of flowers and I saw the first baby tomato of the season yesterday. 

Been testing the soil and it became very alkaline again. Started doing frequent acid treatments at much higher levels than ever before. It's doing some good. 

Cucumbers are still suffering. This is second attempt and several have died off. Maybe I need to get them in the ground instead of containers. Do that today and see how they do. 

This year I am growing cannabis. Mostly in containers but may move some out to the garden once they reach a large enough size to transplant. Then compare how they do. Down side to planting outdoors is that there will be no harvest until fall. Yes, I am licensed on the medical program here. Trying to grow my own because it has the potential to save me thousands of dollars. I'm a really light user and if I get one plant to harvest it would last me several years. 

The blueberry bushes are looking decent. No berries, though. Either need larger containers or get them in the ground. Before I can do that I have to intensely treat and acidify the soil where I'm going to plant them. 

Finally got a living pomegranate bush and a wisteria bush and both are looking good so far. Need to harden them off and get them moved outside, also. 

Finished the garden fence two weekends ago to keep the dog out and provide a trellis for some plants. It looks rather decent! Yay! The footers are each set in concrete, so it should be stable. 

My plan is to build an arbor down at least part of the center of the garden and have grapes and wisteria growing on it. 

All my Gladiolus bulbs seem to be doing well, even after transplanting them out to the garden. 

I now have four red grape vines. Seems when the neighbors installed their privacy fence they buried part of the vine, which formed roots and then turned into new vines. That's funny because these are the same neighbors who killed a green seedless vine while building that fence. Now the four vines are growing across and through the fence! I'm keeping the vine cut back a lot more this year, trying to increase the size of the grapes. But what they did also taught me a method of propagating the vines, since every attempt at growing from cuttings was not working for me. Not sure what I was doing wrong. Doesn't matter. That method will work for a lot of vines and bushes, maybe even trees in some cases. Going to give it a try. Already started an attempt with the green seedless grape vine. 

I have been successfully propagating tomato plants by cuttings. I added 4-5 plants by that method and took four more cuttings this week. They seem to be doing okay so far. Give it a bit more time. 

Got watermelon seeds started this week and they're coming up. Need to get more potting soil and get pumpkin seeds started. I just waited this year. Maybe between starting later plus the plastic on the mounds I can avoid most of the squash bugs this year. 

Increasing plant population

The plant population is increasing. 

Gladiolus are coming up, in the garden and in pots. So are carnations and asters. I was surprised to find the nasturtium pretty much leaped out of the soil (okay, 3 of them) and are already about 4" tall. Since I just planted them Mon or Tue night, that wasn't expected. 

I am on the medical cannabis program and had bought some seeds a few weeks ago. Four of the seeds germinated out of five. They're growing taller. Little slowly but I have not yet had them in complete full sunlight. They are outside now.

Taking a slight chance financially. Ordered some seeds from a company in Amsterdam. The company has been around a while and they have a seriously extensive website including translations of language and currency into a number of languages and currencies. The only company I've seen that offers guaranteed delivery. Doesn't mean they are the only ones, just the only ones I've seen. Long as all works as planned, it winds up much cheaper than buying from the local dispensary, who charges $4 per seed. The seeds I ordered come to less than $2 per seed after shipping to include guaranteed delivery. These are also supposed to be the most prolific producers, up to 1.5 lbs per plant. (I don't use much at all. One lb would last me several years, long as it doesn't go stale.) Down side is a low CBD content. But if the purchase goes well I'll order some more expensive strains from them later. 

A couple of the tomato plants are beginning to flower, Surprising because they're not very tall yet. Though I have seen plants flower and then rapidly gain size while the fruit is small, in a rush to gain strength to support the fruit. 

Glad I got the last tomato plants in the ground a couple days ago. Wind picked up today and probably would have knocked containers over. 

Few days later than planned but got the lavender seeds started today. That's okay, gave them more time to stratify. 

Wow! I have to get more dish tubs. I have like 15-20 of them but turns out they're all in use already. Found out when I went to get seeds for watermelon and pumpkins started. Guess I'll get some more this weekend.